1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to the field of devices for tightening or cinching elongated cord-like members and, more particularly, to the field of rope stretching and tightening devices.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Existing devices for increasing the tension in straps, cords or other filament members used to secure or tie objects down generally involve some means of decreasing the total length of the cord segment used.
A known method of securing objects on pallets, for example, involves placing straps around a loaded pallet and tightening the straps with a device that grasps the straps at two locations and gathers the strap to reduce the total length of strap which surrounds the pallet. The tension in the strap is thereby increased.
Other known methods of increasing the tension in cord segments entail inserting a retractable mechanical device into the cord segment. Such a device is normally attached to the two ends of the cord, and then manipulated so that the length of the device is decreased. By decreasing the length of the device, which has been inserted into the cord segment, the effective length of the segment is thereby decreased and the tension in the cord segment increased.
Winch means are also used to take up the slack in a rope or strap segment.
These methods of tightening, however, are not well suited to tightening rope, especially when securing odd-shaped items on a one-time basis. Jobs such as these often require that one person develop adequate tension in the rope to secure the objects and maintain that tension while tieing a knot in the rope. When such a procedure is used, it is often difficult to produce adequate tension in the rope so as to safely secure the items being bundled by the rope.
It will be appreciated from the foregoing that there is a need for a device which can be easily used and transported by one person and which will permit the tension in a rope, once tied, to be increased so as to remove any undesired slack.